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Gerhart Friedlander: My name is Gerhart Friedlander. Interviewer: What was your role in the Manhattan Project? Friedlander: I got into the Manhattan Project very early; in fact, before there was an official Manhattan Project. I was a graduate student at Berkeley at the University of California. My thesis advisor was Glenn Seaborg, who later on […]

Tom Ryan: In the early morning of August 6, 1945, three B-29 bombers departed from Tinian Island in the Pacific Ocean. Six hours later, they changed the course of history. A single atomic bomb dropped from the Enola Gay exploded over Hiroshima, Japan. In an instant, over four square miles of the city and an […]

Martin Sherwin: This is Martin Sherwin. I’ll be interviewing Sir Rudolf Peierls at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Today’s date is June 6th, 1979.  You first met [J.Robert] Oppenheimer in Zurich in 1929? Rudolf Peierls: Right, yes. Sherwin: At that time, I think you mentioned you were working with [Wolfgang] Pauli’s group? […]

Stephane Groueff: [Enrico] Fermi had the characteristics of a real genius. Colonel Franklin Matthias: Almost every time you would get in contact with him, something would come up that was impressive. Physically, he was a small man, unimpressive person, but he grew real large when he started talking about things he knew. Groueff: Was he […]

Isabella Karle: Isabella Karle. I-S-A-B-E-L-L-A K-A-R-L-E Cindy Kelly: Terrific. Could you tell us how you happened to become part of the Manhattan Project? Karle: My husband, Jerome Karle, completed his work for the PhD degree about four months before I completed mine. By the time I had completed my work, he was already ensconced at […]

Ralph Lapp:  I am Ralph Lapp, L-A-P-P. I am a physicist, nuclear physicist, an author, and a consultant. I have engaged in finance and technology. Interviewer: Great. What can you tell us about your role in the Manhattan Project? Lapp: Well, my role was quite a small one, but to me fascinating. I was in […]

Stephane Groueff: It is working. Mr. Stapleton, you were with security during the Hanford period, or you were already here with security in DuPont in Wilmington? Newton Stapleton: I was in the security prior to Hanford. At the beginning of the war, DuPont got involved in building a plant for the French and British down […]

Roger Rasmussen: Hi, I am Roger Rasmussen. That is R-A-S-M-U-S-S-E-N. I am the son of Rasmus. That is what it means. It is Danish. My dad came from Denmark. Cindy Kelly: When were you born? Rasmussen: I was born in Mason City, Iowa on November 13, 1920. I refer to that as the Middle Ages. […]

Stephane Groueff: Hello. Colonel Matthias, if you can tell me the story of how the plutonium was shipped. Colonel Franklin Matthias: Is this good enough. Groueff: Yeah, it is good enough. The plutonium was shipped from Hanford to—? Matthias: To Los Alamos. Groueff: To Los Alamos. Matthias: We spent a lot of time trying to […]

Carl Higby: My name is Carl Higby. Last name spelled H-I-G-B-Y. Carl with a C. Tell us how and when you came to Hanford. Higby: Well, in 1950 when I graduated at Washington State University, a recruiter was visiting the WSU campus and made a job offer. It turns out that was the only job […]